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No. 30 Commando

It seems many of the blog topics I’ve written about over all these years seem to “connect the dots” and lead to Ian Fleming, author of the James Blond series [refer to blogs, Cynthia: World War II Mata Hari (click here), James Bond’s Lover (click here), Explosive Rats (click here), Agent Jack, “M” and the Fifth Column (click here), The Double Cross System (click here)]. Today’s topic is yet another story that has Mr. Fleming’s fingerprints all over it.


Did You Know?

Did you know it’s likely every war has its stories of elite snipers? You would if you had read several of my blogs, Lady Death (click here to read) and/or Valkoinen kuolema (click here to read). Well, the recent conflict in the Ukraine is no different. One of Ukraine’s premier military groups is their sniper division. Although snipers alone will never win a war, they can certainly help affect the outcome. That is why Ukraine’s snipers concentrate on taking out Russia’s officers. Once a Russian officer is killed, the unit he or she commanded is left without any leadership and the soldiers become disorganized and demoralized. (In the U.S. Army, noncommissioned officers would take up leadership positions in these situations.)

One of Ukraine’s sniper teams is named “Devils and Angels.” Their orders are to kill senior Russian officers and other high-profile targets. Teams of two operate in areas of extreme danger, often cut off completely from their units. One member will be a spotter, calculating distance, air humidity and temperature, and wind speed while the other handles the rifle. At night, they take turns sleeping. Ukraine claims one of their snipers took out their target at a distance of about 12,470 feet, or one third longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. It surpassed the current record by some 850 feet (I haven’t verified sniper records). Reportedly, the shot was recorded and reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

Once his spotter had made the critical measurements and whispered, “You can,” Vyacheslav Kovalskiy pulled the trigger and waited nine seconds for the bullet to descend 330 feet to strike a Russian officer. Gun and sniper experts believe that after a distance of about 4,300 feet, a kill from a sniper’s gun is more luck than anything else.

Vyacheslav Kovalskiy with the rifle he used to shoot at a Russian soldier more than two miles away. Photo by Joseph Sywenkyi (date unknown).
Vyacheslav Kovalskiy with the rifle he used to shoot at a Russian soldier more than two miles away. Photo by Joseph Sywenkyi (date unknown). Wall Street Journal: “Ukrainian Sniper Breaks Cover to Claim World-Record Hit of More Than 2 Miles.” 4 December 2023.
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/ukrainian-sniper-breaks-cover-to-claim-world-record-hit-of-more-than-2-miles-2b1c820e

What did Napoléon say when asked if he wanted good generals? He said, “No, I want lucky generals.”


Let’s Meet Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming (1908−1964) was born into a wealthy and politically prominent family. Educated at Eaton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Fleming began writing at an early age and was the editor of Eaton’s magazine, The Wyvern. Following the educational phase of his life, Fleming embarked on a series of jobs including editing and reporting for the Reuters News Agency, banking positions, and financial investments (the latter two he failed at). He also became involved in multiple affairs with one resulting in a marriage proposal that was abruptly ended after Fleming’s mother threatened to cut her son out of the family will. (Fleming may have been an unsuccessful banker and stockbroker but he was certainly pragmatic.) In early 1939, Fleming accepted a job offer that would provide a basis for his future books.

The Admiralty 

Rear Admiral John Godfrey (1888−1970) was the director of British Naval Intelligence Division (NID) prior to the start of World War II. Godfrey approached Fleming and persuaded him to join the intelligence unit as his personal assistant. Less than a month before the war began, Fleming reported for duty at the Admiralty Building (a.k.a. the Ripley Building) and was given the codename “17F.” Read More No. 30 Commando

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Find Johnny Nicholas!

Just about everyone knows the story of the International Military Tribunal Trial held in Nuremberg, Germany between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946. Commonly known as the Main Nuremberg Trial, twenty-four senior Nazi party officials and military officers were indicted on one or more of the four charges: conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity (click here to read the blog, Hitler’s Enablers-Part One). Twenty-one defendants sat in the dock (Martin Bormann was tried in absentia, Alfred Krupp was too ill to attend, and Robert Ley committed suicide). Twelve men were sentenced to death, three were acquitted, and the remainder were given prison terms ranging from ten years to life imprisonment (click here to read the blog, Court Room 600).

By the time the main trial ended, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France had had enough of Nazi trials and future trials were carried out by the Americans and countries where Nazi atrocities had occurred. The twelve Nuremberg follow-up trials between October 1946 and April 1949 were held in Court Room 600, the same venue as the main trial. Defendants in the twelve trials included doctors, lawyers, industrialists, administrators, and members of the Einsatzgruppen, SS mobile killing units.

Subsequent post-war trials were held to establish accountability of the men and women who actively participated in the crimes and atrocities against their fellow human beings. The defendants were primarily lower-level party officials, officers, and soldiers. Among them were concentration camp guards and commandants, police officers, and collaborationist officials of occupied countries (click here to read the blog, Hitler’s Enablers -Part Two). The trials were conducted either in groups (e.g., Auschwitz, Belsen, Dachau, Sobibor, and Treblinka) or as single defendants (e.g., Rudolf Höss, Albert Kesselring, and Anton Dostler). Many of these trials were held in former concentration camps such as Dachau and Auschwitz.

It is here that Johnny’s story begins.


Understandably, there is very little information about Johnny Nicholas. The formative (and only) book devoted solely to Johnny is The Search for Johnny Nicholas by Hugh Wray McCann and David C. Smith. When I refer to “the authors” in this blog, I am speaking of Messrs. McCann and Smith. Mr. McCann first heard the story of Johnny in 1965 from a friend who had covered the 1947 Nordhausen War Crimes Trials. He and his journalist friend, Mr. Smith, decided to embark on a decades long journey to uncover the life story of a man who led a very interesting life before his untimely death at the age of twenty-six. I highly recommend you read this very interesting book but before starting Chapter One, I suggest you first read the Foreword (“How the Search Began”) and the Afterword (“The Search Within the Search”).

Cover of book, “The Search for Johnny Nicholas” by Hugh Wray McCann and David C. Smith.
Cover of book, “The Search for Johnny Nicholas” by Hugh Wray McCann and David C. Smith. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

Read More Find Johnny Nicholas!